Saint Joseph Catholic Church

Father Renato Kizito Sesana, a Comboni missionary, described recent attacks on civilians in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains as the fighting in the nation’s civil war spreads there.

Quoted in the most prominent article in the Vatican newspaper’s December 16 edition, Father Sesana spoke of drone attacks on “a small clinic, near a school, where training sessions are occasionally held for boys and girls who provide health services in the villages.”

The missionary recounted:

The first drone struck suddenly, killing many people instantly. However, a second attack, which occurred a few minutes later, made the massacre even worse. Between the first and second attacks, other students, children from the nearby school, and people who had rushed to help the wounded had arrived. The second drone struck them as well.

Christian Solidarity International reported that the nation’s army was responsible for the attack.

Sister Raffaella Petrini, president of the Governatorate of the Vatican City State, presided at the inauguration of the Christmas tree and Nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square on the evening of December 15 (video).

The tree comes from the northern Italian Diocese of Bolzano-Bressanone; the Nativity scene comes from the southern Italian Diocese of Nocera Inferiore-Sarno.

In a foreword to a new book on the Second Vatican Council, a former director of the Holy See Press Office praised the authors for “rekindling the desire to personally read the Council documents in their original and complete text.”

Father Federico Lombardi, SJ, president of the Joseph Ratzinger—Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation, said that the conciliar documents “are not hermetic writings for specialists ... In fact, we probably understand them better if we read them ourselves rather than having them explained to us by others.”

Father Lombardi also praised the authors—Dariusz Kowalczyk and Enrichetta Cesarale, who teach at the Pontifical Gregorian University—for avoiding polemics. “It is right to avoid, indeed to reject without hesitation, a ‘hermeneutic of rupture,’ in order to share that of ‘reform in continuity,’” wrote Father Lombardi, citing Pope Benedict XVI’s 2005 Christmas address to the Curia.

Pope Leo XIV received Prime Minister Robert Abela of Malta on December 15.

“Marking 60 years of diplomatic relations between Malta and the Holy See, we discussed peace, climate change, humanitarian challenges, and our shared commitment to dialogue and human dignity,” Prime Minister Abela said in a social media post about the “meaningful meeting.”

Following the audience, the prime minister met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of His Holiness, and Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations. The parties discussed Church-state relations, migration, the Middle East, and Ukraine, according to a Vatican statement.

Catholicism is the state religion of the Mediterranean nation of 470,000 (map). 92% of residents are Christian (90% Catholic), and 3% are Muslim.

Responding to a psychologist’s letter for a message that can “touch the hearts” of young people, Pope Leo XIV spoke of “the importance of Christian witness as a way to help young people encounter Christ: a simple, authentic witness, matured in prayer, in community life, and in the awareness of being ‘continuously loved by God,’” according to a summary of the letter published by Vatican News.

The Pontiff then invited the young to show “concrete charity” at Christmas: “let us invite a poor family or even just a lonely person to Christmas dinner.” He also advised young people to turn to the example of St. John Henry Newman, who can help combat “the darkness of nihilism” and build a true “civilization of peace.”

The exchange was published in the December issue of Piazza San Pietro, a magazine published under the Vatican basilica’s auspices. Pope Leo has continued his predecessor’s custom of answering one letter in each issue.

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December 17 marks the beginning of the O Antiphons, the seven jewels of our liturgy, dating back to the fourth century, one for each day until Christmas Eve. These antiphons address Christ with seven magnificent Messianic titles, based on the Old Testament prophecies and types of Christ. The Church in these following Golden Nights travels through the centuries recalling the longing for the Redeemer. Today begins with O Wisdom (O Sapientia).

At his weekly public audience on December 17, Pope Leo XIV said that the restlessness that all people experience will be eased when “we ill enter into God’s repose, which is peace and joy.”

The Pope said that restlessness, characterized by “too much doing,” is a sign that the human soul is searching for fulfillment. He quoted the well known saying of St. Augustine: “Lord, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”

“Nowadays speed is required everywhere,” the Pope remarked. But energetic activity is not the cure for the feeling of restlessness. The real remedy for the restless soul is “returning to the source of its being, delighting in the joy that never fails, that never disappoints.”

The Ugandan army has confirmed that a priest who has been missing since December 3 is in custody, having been seized for “involvement in violent subversive activities against the state.”

Father Deusdedit Ssekabira was abducted by armed men, who did not identify themselves and showed no warrant for his arrest, according to witnesses. The Diocese of Masaka has called his abduction a “grievous wound,” and human-rights lawyers have demanded his release.

An activist Brazilian priest with an enormous media following has been to end his appearances on broadcast and social media.

Father Julio Lancellotti, who has millions of online followers, told reporters that he had accepted the order from Cardinal Odilo Scherer of Sao Paulo “in a spirit of obedience and resilience.”

Father Lancellotti, who is famous for his advocacy on behalf of the poor and the homeless, has been attacked by Brazilian political leaders, who charge that his activities have encouraged criminal behavior, particularly among drug users.